Who here watched it? I only watched the main event. Ortiz vs. Liddell. It's pretty good, and on isohunt. A few thoughts about the fight: Once again, Ortiz looked like a monster, and seemed a lot bigger than Liddell in terms of just muscle mass and strength. Proving once again it's not how big the dog is, but the size of the fight in the dog. Liddell, being smaller and having a bit of a belly even, won handily, although to Tito's credit, he did make it last a few rounds. Liddell has always been vulnerable to high kicks. We saw that in the Vernon White fight and it was only now that people started to figure this out, but a big kudos to Chuck Liddel for showing that people underestimate his defensive game. Liddell has a very unique stance, and one that resembles a street brawler more than a mixed martial artist. It is funny to watch a lot of times. He stands with one foot slightly forward and wobbles his head from side to side, making his face a harder target to hit than a stationary one. Throw a punch at his face and unless you time it correctly, chances are it'll miss. His right fist is always further back, ready to strike, and that is what knocks most opponents out. The right swings for the fences when an opportunity arises, and it catches a lot of opponents by surprise. The way he fights can really be written like an A.I. script, and that's what makes him fun to watch. 1) Wobble the head left and right 2) Keep overhand right loaded 3) If opponent goes for takedown, splay legs out for defense. Coupled with a killer instinct and knowing when to go for the KO and when to hold back, he is probably my favorite fighter to watch. Tito Ortiz on the other hand, just doesn't seem to be the same since his knee injury. Before, you had a fighter with an explosive takedown, and virtually flawless ground & pound techniques, but he seems to have lost a step. He really can't jump at opponents and take them down as quick anymore, and that is hurting his game for sure. But his stand up and endurance seems to have improved a lot. Hopefully, this latest loss will not affect him too much, because in any sport, confidence is everything, and you can tell a difference between a fighter who is fighting to win or one who is just trying to protect himself from getting hurt too much. For myself, there is finally a guy in my city who is into the mixed martial arts culture, (he was in the UFC and Pride) and I am thinking of joining his gym. I'm debating it because of cost, time and untraining myself to not be able to go for the crotch, eyes, neck or the other rules the UFC has in a match. I'd be prepared to win in the ring, but at the cost to the real-world effectiveness of my current martial art. (Hapkido and Bak-Miy) But this is a sport I truly enjoy watching...I just wish I could participate.
I was surprised by the fight. I was really expecting Ortiz to win. Chuck is starting to get up there in age and hasn't been really tested in quite some time. He showed exactly why he's champion though. And the good part is that makes Liddell vs. Rampage II a near certainty. As for the rest of the fights And now Cro Cop is in the UFC! Tim Silvia's gotta be shitting himself right about now.
I used to watch UFC years ago. It was awesome while they were still standing up, but when they would fight on the ground it just looked like rough sex. Has it changed? I don't wanna knock it cause it's been years and years since I saw it. Speaking of rough sex, do they have chick on chick UFC?
You want to see literally "no rules?" - then it wouldn't be a sport. The current rules are a good balance between safety and not hindering any particular style of fighting. Safety in a sport like this is of utmost importance. All they need is a serious injury for people to scream "it's a dangerous bloodbath...human cockfighting!" As it is now it's WAY safer than boxing. In boxing guys don't bleed as much, but they get brain damage from getting hit in the head 100 times in a fight. In UFC a few good blows and someone's getting knocked out very quickly. It's a lot more reality based. Boxing is insane. Who fights like that in reality? Most of us folks at WF have been in fights. Has anyone knocked someone down then waited for them to get back up before hitting them? That's a fast train to an ass kicking! You follow them down and try to get a dominant position, etc. As for someone cpomplaining about too much time on the ground, that was quite a while ago - when there was were no rounds or time limits. Now the refereee stands them back up if nobody is doing anything productive on the ground. UFC is much improved - these guys need a combination of ground skills, standup and clinch to succeed. Experts say martial arts has evolved faster in the past 7 years than in the past 700 prior to UFC. All that fancy "Kung-Fu Theater" shit? It doesn't work! Breaking bricks with your bare hands? Cool.....now try doing it with someone kicking you in the head. Lose your "inner focus" sunshine? This shit is catching on like lightning in the Army (among whites + hispanics anyway). They have grappling smokers now instead of boxing. If you win enough, you go all the way into a UFC style full contact tournaments. But of course the average soldier isn't allowed this type of training for safety reasons.
Um, are you serious??? I hate to nitpick, since the rest of what you said I can agree with more or less, but those "experts" would be wrong.
You're more than welcome to watch it if you enjoy it. Good for you. My problem is that I encountered UFC very early on and became a big fan. Now a great deal of the rules they've added exist purely to commercialise the competition, and I personally find it dissatisfying. Did you ever see Ken Shamrock vs Yarborough or Royce Gracie vs Remco Pardoel? You just don't see those kinds of performances any more.
Yup. I've seen those. I've also seen Shamrock vs Severn where the fighters circled each other for half an hour, too afraid to make any moves. And two fighters lie on top of each other the whole match. GAAY! The way it works now definitly beats watching that. IMO. Any fight that wants to see the fighters actually walk away from the bout without broken wrists, gouged out eyeballs or dead, you hafta have a few rules.
That's where I think we will have to agree to disagree. Personally, I would rather risk seeing a tedious fight in order to have the opportunity to see something that has a touch of realism. It's a question of a change in the whole philosophy. I agree, but the original rules worked pretty damn well at preventing serious injury. Things like round time limits have little or nothing to do with safety and everything to do with mass-market appeal. I just wish these guys had left UFC alone and made their own MMA competition. That way you could watch the stuff you enjoy, and I could watch the stuff I enjoy.
